Star Trek: Across the Universe by George Zebrowski & Pamela Sargent

Author:George Zebrowski & Pamela Sargent
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Science Fiction, Star Trek, Fiction
ISBN: 9780743454056
Publisher: Pocket Books
Published: 2002-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

"How are we doing, Ms. Aliss?" Cortes asked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to try again, Captain Cortes," the First Citizen's voice replied. "Head back the way you came, and keep firing."

"Order acknowledged," Cortes muttered. "Everyone, we're going to retrace our route once more. I'm turning around now-follow me, and continue to fire on stun!"

His vehicle picked up speed. A display panel on the controls told him that they were maintaining a distance of a thousand meters between vehicles. The bolts shot into

the green wall again, but he could not tell if the phaser fire was having any results.

"What's the word, First Citizen?" he asked as he turned west. "Are we accomplishing anything at all?"

"We should know in a few moments," Aliss replied. 'The Enterprise is scanning now."

As he and the others went on firing, Cortes looked out at the great grassy twisting mass to his right. It sat on the land, a green wall that had come out of the ground, weeds consuming this world, worse than any nightmare he had dreamed in his three decades aboard the Hawking. Maybe he was still asleep there, dreaming this horror.

No, he told himself, there was one difference. In his shipboard dreams, he had been given no weapons with which to defend himself. Here, he was armed, and possibly doing some good-both for his comrades and for others.

Uhura sat at her station, keeping the channels between the Enterprise and the city of New Ibadan open and on standby. Trent, she knew, had gone back to the city council offices to wait with Teressa Aliss.

At her left, Commander Spock was studying the display of the latest scans. The Vulcan looked up and then turned toward the captain's command station. "Captain," he said, "the attack carried out twice now by Captain Cortes and his volunteers has had no effect."

Captain Kirk stood up and came aft to Spock's station.

"You can see there," Spock continued, pointing to the display, "that there has been no sign that the green bio-mass has retreated, or even come to a temporary halt. It is still moving toward the outskirts of the city."

Captain Kirk sighed. "Uhura, get me Teressa Aliss."

"The channel's still open, sir." Uhura pressed a button on her console. "I'm hailing her now."

What would happen to the people in the city? she thought. Even if the crew of the Enterprise tried to beam them to safer places away from New Ibadan, there would not be enough time to rescue them all. There were also not enough shuttlecraft to ferry them all away from Merope IV. Even if rescue and relocation in other regions of the planet were possible, Uhura wondered if that would do any good. The hungry wall of weeds might only rise up from the ground to attack elsewhere.

The captain went back to his station as the forward viewscreen lit up, revealing the image of Teressa Aliss.

"I've got bad news," Kirk said.

Her mouth twisted . "Your face has already delivered that news, Captain Kirk," the First Citizen said in a hoarse and weary voice.

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